Pakistan hints players may not be sent for Bangladesh Premier League

Karachi: Furious after Bangladesh refused to tour Pakistan citing security fears, the PCB has hinted that it will not release its players for the Twenty20 Premier League there.

In a statement issued on Monday night, the Pakistan Cricket Board indicated that Bangladesh's refusal to send its team to Pakistan has affected relations between the two Boards.

"Now for the 2013 edition of BPL, we have to see the commitments and engagements of our players before releasing them for the tournament. To associate the release (of) the Pakistani players with Bangladesh tour to Pakistan does not hold any merit," the statement said.

PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf earlier reacted strongly to the announcement by BCB President Nazmul Hassan that Bangladesh would not tour Pakistan.

"If they don't want to come its their own decision and we didn't force them. Now their own reputation is at stake. If they don't want to respect their bilateral relationship then we will also respond in a same manner," he said.

On the Bangladesh Premier League, Zaka said, "We will take a principled stance on BPL. but one thing is sure our players might not be free as we are making our own arrangements from next year."

In the space of nine months, the Bangladesh board has twice left the PCB fuming after announcing it would be sending its team to Pakistan.

In April, it backed off citing an order from the Dhaka High Court which restrained Bangladesh players from going to Pakistan because of security concerns. And on Monday, the BCB President cited the same reason and said the tour could not take place immediately.

The PCB said the statement about security concerns by the BCB chief was "inappropriate".

"The decision to tour Pakistan is the sole prerogative of BCB, however, it is inappropriate to call security situation in Pakistan as the main reason behind this decision.

"The recent cricket activity in Pakistan itself reflects that the atmosphere in Pakistan is congenial for any international team visit to the country," the statement said.

"Moreover, a team of BCB and Bangladesh government jointly visited Pakistan to ascertain the security situation and they left fully satisfied on the subject.

"Now it would only be proper for the new president of BCB to read the report submitted by that team or visit Pakistan before making any such comments on the Pakistan's current situation," it added.